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source: Yorkshire Post 07 September 2009

FOR generations it has remained one of Yorkshire's quirkiest tourist attractions, luring in visitors from across the globe.

But only a privileged few have been able to own Mother Shipton's Cave down the centuries,

Now, however, anyone with £1.8m to spare could join the exclusive club.

The 12-acre estate, with its famous petrifying well and colourful past dating back to the reigns of King Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, has gone on the market for only the fourth time in its 400-year history.

The site in Knaresborough is named after England's most famous prophetess and attracts more than 65,000 visitors every year to visit the cave, her famous birthplace and the well.

The Mother Shipton's estate had originally been part of the royal forest of Knaresborough but it was sold by King Charles I to a wealthy landowner, Sir Henry Slingsby, in 1630.

The estate includes not only the prophetess's cave, but also a petrifying well which is believed to be the only one of its kind in the British Isles.

Various objects hang from the face of the waterfall being slowly turned into stone because of the water's high mineral content, and items left over the years include a hat from John Wayne and a handbag that belonged to Agatha Christie.

But perhaps the most unusual request was from the family of a man whose had asked before his death that his ashes were petrified at Mother Shipton's Cave as he had such fond memories of it.

The current owner said: "We are inundated with requests for items to be petrified, so unfortunately we have had to stop doing it for the general public.

"The request for the petrification of the ashes was the most unusual request we have had, but we only now do it for items that are going to be in the museum."

The estate, which has been given a guide price of £1.8m, includes a historic riverside and woodland walk through part of what was the ancient forest of Knaresborough.

The sale also includes the museum of artefacts associated with Mother Shipton and the well as well as a tea room, a gift shop, two children's adventure playgrounds and three picnic areas along with parking for 200 vehicles.

A three-bedroomed gate house, Prophecy Lodge, and a series of timber buildings for staff, maintenance, storage and ancillary accommodation are also included.

The sale of the estate, which is included in the National Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England, is being handled by the Skipton offices of HLL Humberts Leisure.

1.8 million is a good deal for the site. Now wheres my wallet.... well I can throw 4.57 GBP into the pot....